Lafayette-Georgetown game day

WASHINGTON, DC -- The lights were on at Multi-Sport Field an hour before the scheduled 6 p.m. kickoff. I think the last time I was at this place was during Lehigh's dominant run at the beginning of the century.

The field's surface has changed; a number of impressive new buildings now exist on the perimeter. That's what's new. What's the same are the portable toilets behind the grandstand -- Isaw even a Georgetown player in full uniform use one of them -- the bush refreshment stands serving outlandishly priced hot dogs, French fries that looked a lot better and homemade ice cream. For $3 you can get one of the worst hot dogs you've ever tasted.

The press box is a big improvement over my last visit. Lafayette coach Frank Tavani was surprised that Mike Blouse, who, at least for this week, is the Express-Times' replacement for Nick Fierro, and I even had seats inside. We have no wireless Internet access, however, so Blouse has the only Ethernet cable in this portion of the box and I'm counting on my air card to carry the day.

It's a perfect September evening, temperature probably around 72, cloudy but without an imminent threat of rain. It's 30 minutes before kickoff as I type this and the crowd is sparse -- the Lafayette fans on the far side outnumber the Hoya fans for now, but that WILL change.

Tavani had his pre-game nerves work full blast almost two hours before kickoff. This is a dangerous game for him and the Leopards. As their opener, it's one that could be punctuated by mistakes. But, it's also Georgetown's second game, and even though the Hoyas lost the first one, the experience has to count for something.

As if worrying about the Hoyas was not enough to occupy Tavani's mind, the coach also had to do a bit of schmoozing with alumni prior to the game. He is a great one in that regard, and he knows the importance of keeping the program's givers happy. Proof? How about th3 Bourger Varsity Football House. The glad-handing is definitely time well spent.

If someone is going to do something special about this first night game, it's not evident. The lights have been on since 5 o'clock, but it'll be some time before we know how effective they are.

The Leopards will make use of at least four tailbacks, and only about a dozen plays have been "scripted" to start the game. Tyrell Coon may be the No. 1 TB right now, but there will be times when he shares the backfield alignment with another TB instead of a fullback. While Lafayette wants to run the football, Tavani knows the G'town defense might put all its eggs in that basket. The passing game is ready to go.

Defensively, the Leopards will be missing a couple of players, but John Loose expects to be attacking, always. Georgetown did not run the ball well last week against Holy Cross, and it will find the going tough tonight, too, especially with d-tackles Andrew Poulson and Ian Dell and linebackers Mark Leggiero and Michael Schmidlein.

Georgetown came onto the field first; the Leopards were greeted by a good following on the visitors' side of the field.

Georgetown wins the toss and defers until the second half. Lafayette will receive.

FIRST QUARTER

Stripe and Morrow deep for the kickoff. Stripe hit at the 18. Stripe gets 14 on a first-down wingback reverse to the short side. Coon get 9 on his first carry, but a third-and-1 is stuffed and the Leopards punt.

A sack by Donald Ellis was offset by a roughing-the-passer penalty, But there is no damage and G'town punts.

Three and out and not pretty. A reverse by Morrow, a near interception and a one-yard loss on a screen pass. Punting into the wind is not easy, either, with G'town getting the ball on the Lafayette 44.

Game clock to be kept on the field the rest of the quarter. Dell gets Brady for a six-yard loss.Houghton good run. Brady hit by Poulson as throwing and incomplete. A punt.

White is the third different tailback.Gets six on his first carry. Third-and-3 pass to Bennett for a first down. First real throw by Curley. Jerome Rudolph sets up with Coon in the backfield, takes a handoff going to the right and beats the defense to the sidelines for a 48-yard touchdown run -- the longest run of his career. Rodriguez kicks for a 7-0 lead.

Rodriguez is the only underclassmen among the top four tailbacks, and he is smooth and deceptively fast. He really turned it on down the sidelines.

Curley is having a very uneven start. He connected with Bennett for gains of 26 and 11 yards, but on a fourth-and-5 at the G'town 31, he was sacked for a loss of 14.

The first quarter finally ended with Lafayette in G'town territory after a key completion to Layton.

SECOND QUARTER

It looked for a while like G'town was going to stop the Leopards the way it had stopped Holy Cross a couple of times the week before. Lafayette got a first down on the Hoya 6, but a penalty, a one-yard loss and a four-yard gain left the 'pards with third-and-8. Curley checked off hs original play and went to a fade to Layton in the end zone. Layton simply outleaped the defender in front of him for the TD.

The next time Lafayette had the ball, on a first down at the Hoya 46, Curley found Layton open in the flat. It appeared Layton would be stoppped for a short gain, but he suddenly slipped out of the grasp of a G'town defensive back and broke free, scampering the rest of the 46 yards for the touchdown.

The half was amazing for the Leopards, with G'town getting just 35 total yards on 24 plays. Penalties disrupted the Lafayette flow at times, but the effort was strong on both sides of the ball.

THIRD QUARTER

Maybe the Lafayette defense decided to take some time off. Maybe G'town regrouped enough during the intermission to scome up with some weaknesses it could exploit. Whatever the reason, G'town suddenly came to life.

Charlie Houghton started the half by returning the kickoff all the way out to the 44. The Hoyas racked up first downs on three consecutive plays at one poinit before they finally sputtered and settled for Jose-Pablo Buerba's 33-yard fielod goal.

Stan Clayton must have had words with the offensive line at the half. The guys opened a hole for Morrow, who ran for 22 yards on the first play after the kickoff. Then, on third down, Curley found Morrow open on the left side, got the ball to him and let the quick and shifty running back do the rest for a 38-yard touchdown play. Not bad for a kid whose longest gain on a pass reception last year was nine yards.

The Hoyas went right back to work again with Houghton and QB James Brady leading the way. A 26-yard gain to Dishon Hughes was the biggest play as the Hoyas moverd to thwe Lafayette 14. On fourth down, instead of going for another field goal, Brady passed to Rick Cosgrove in the end zone, but Cosgrove came down out of bounds. No points.

FOURTH QUARTER

The final 15 minutes can be wrapped up in two words. Missed kicks. Usually steady Davis Rodriguez a 38-yarder wide right, then a 34-yarder wide left and finally a 32-yarder wide left. He had great leg on every kick. The problem probably mystified him more than anyone else. good thing they were not needed. He will get better. He was 13-for-15 last year.

Some quick stats worth mentioning: junior Michael Phillips had two tackles for loss, one sack, forced two fumbles and recovered one of them; Allan Whitesell, Ian Dell and Andrew Poulson all helped harass the Hoyas' Brady much of the day -- if they didn't get sacks, they were putting Brady on the ground just as he released the ball. Evan McGovern had an interception. White finished up with 76 yards rushing; Morrow had 62 and Rudolph had his big TD. Coon had just 18 yards, but he was held out after taking a hit to the jaw in the second period. Layton caught seven passes for 107 yards; Mitchell Bennett showed that he might be a big downfield threat. Curley was 20-for-34 passing for 259 yards and three TDs, and while he sometimes looked very sharp, he also had room for improvement. The scariest moment for him was when he was hit late in the head in the fourth period. He was OK. Hoyas' Houghton had only 35 yards rushing, but it seemed like more. He also had 132 yards on five kickoff returns. He's a good one. Best defensive player for the Hoyas was sophomore Andrew Schaetzkewho had five tackles, five assists, two sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss -- it seemed he was making every play at times. Another soph, Wayne Heimuli, had six unassisted stops and six assists. Player to watch: Hoya freshman QB Isaiah Kempf, who wasn't on the two-deep but who came in in the fourth period and completed 6 of 12 passes for 81 yards and almost took the Hoyas to a late score.

Final grade for Lafayette: A B+. It would have been better, but neither unit operated at peak capability for the entire game. Liberty will be more of a test next week. I can hardly wait. Lafayette looks like a team with unlimited potential.